Five days later, Edward William Harris was laid to rest in the Allerton Cemetery next to his wife, Evelyn.
A luncheon was provided after the funeral and the burial at Mimi's house. There were a lot of people who had shown up for the luncheon that Olivia had never met or known that seemed to have been close friends with her parents.
But she didn't care about that; in fact, she hadn't shed a single tear or spoken a single word to anybody, including John. She sat on the red velvet chair in Mimi's living room, sipping a cup of tea and just stared out the window.
Her world had come crashing down without any expectation, and Olivia now had to think about what she was going to do. 'I don't have anybody left here so what's the bloody point of staying?' She thought to herself. There was a part of her that became completely angry at not only herself but as well as the way she felt things in her life were going. Her mind raced to the meeting with her father's lawyer and replayed everything. Her father had left everything to her; the house, money, and the 1956 White Morris Minor he barely drove. She also finally met her new agent, Larry Holmes, who was extremely eager to get her started with photoshoots with specific photographers and such as soon as possible after the funeral. Everything was changing, and she wasn't ready for it; she didn't want to prepare for it.
She fought back the tears she was desperately trying to keep in, afraid of others would be watching. Olivia was too sad to cry or wail, she just sat there as still as a statue while the magnitude of her father's loss swept over her. Her eyes watched the other guests, people she knew and those she didn't, laugh and smile while they conversed with one another. How could they smile or be happy when she felt so distraught? Part of her wanted them to feel her pain too so that she wouldn't be so lonely with it, but another part was glad they couldn't.
John, Paul, Pete, and Colin walked into the living room to see Olivia still sitting in the chair she had been the past hour.
"Blimey, she hasn't said a word?" Colin tilted his head, nudging Pete.
John sighed as he hated seeing her look so down and depressed, "Nothin'. Not even to me."
Pete cracked his knuckles and smirked, "Oh well I'm here now. I'll get her talkin'."
John quickly grabbed his elbow, "If ya as much crack a joke 'bout her parents, I'll knock ya bloody wits off."
Pete yanked his elbow away from John, giving him a little glare as he made his way to her, "Come off it, I'm not that fuckin' daft."
He stood right next to Olivia and cleared his throat, "Ay there Liv. Just wanna say I'm sorry an' all 'bout ya dad," he stared at her, waiting for a response but she said nothing. He glanced back at the rest and shrugged, "This is the part where ya say somethin' back."
Olivia rolled her eyes, keeping her gaze out the window. 'Just what I need,' she thought, 'Pete trying to push me buttons.'
"It's 'bout time ya kept that mouth of yours shut," Pete said with a smile, waiting again for a reaction, but once again, nothing.
John quickly walked over to Pete and grabbed his arm, dragging him away from Olivia, "Ya fuckin' bastard, what'd I tell ya?"
"She just needs the space, is all," Paul stood there and watched her for a minute, reminiscing on his mothers' death that wasn't too long ago. He knew exactly how she was feeling, as those were his exact feelings when he lost his mother, "She'll come 'round. It's difficult to lose someone that close to ya at that age."
John raised his eyebrow and laughed, "And I suppose you'd be the expert?"
Paul shrugged his shoulder, returning a smirk, "I lost me mum last year, but I suppose that doesn't make me the expert."
"Oh, well.." John became speechless, realising his arrogant remarks had once again made things awkward, "I suppose it should," John took a glance at Colin and Pete, giving his shoulder a slight shrug, "Let's get a bev then?"
Paul watched the three began to walk off, "I'll just sit here and keep Liv company."
"Suit yourself," Pete snorted back.
Paul walked over to the chair that was adjacent from Olivia and slowly sat down. He knew she possibly didn't want to be bothered and he would assumably be the last person she wished to speak with. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looked at her once again, "Ay Liv, I'm sorry 'bout your dad."
Her eyes shifted to Paul but then back at the window, her gaze fixating at the empty street outside.
He sighed, "I know how ya feel, and I just want to let ya know that I'm here if ya need to talk."
She slowly turned her head and glared her eyes at him. 'How the hell does he know how I feel?' She thought. 'Nobody could understand what it's like.'
"I know," Paul smirked, "How would I know what you're feelin'?" He cleared his throat and met his eyes back up at hers, "I lost me Mum just last year. I didn't know of it then, but she also had cancer. A different kind, but she was sick for a long time."
Her glare softened, and a single tear fell down her face, "Paul, I'm so sorry."
The first words that she had said all day were to Paul, which surprised him, "It's hard, ya know. I was real close to me Mum too. I can tell that you were close to your dad."
She slowly nodded, as another tear fell down her face, "I was," she wiped the tear from her face and sighed, "Nobody understands how I've been feeling. I didn't see it coming," she paused for a moment, setting her cup on the small table next to her, "Well, now that I think about it, there were signs he was sick. I just ignored it. If only I had been better and.."
"It's not your fault, Liv," Paul scooted the chair closer to hers, setting a hand on her knee, "There's nothing you could have done to stop it," he paused, "But that isn't a reason to shut everyone out."
She nodded, knowing he was right, "I know, I just don't want to hear it from everybody else or speak to anyone else who doesn't understand," she glanced down and fiddled with the black lace on her black dress, "I'm so fucking tired of people staring at me as 'oh poor Olivia' and offering me the sympathy card."
"They're just tryin' to tell ya and show ya they care," Paul rubbed her knee, "It's fine to be bitter for a few days but John's real worried. Best not to keep him shut out."
She smiled at Paul and placed her hand on top of his, "Thanks for this, Paul. I really needed it."
The one person she never expected to understand or even had the faintest idea of how she was feeling was exactly what she needed. They never had a chance to get to know one another honestly, but after conversing with him, there was a lot more to Paul than she assumed. For being younger, he had a lot of wisdom and strength in him, especially losing his Mother last year. He had so much confidence and strength in him that she wanted, that she realised she needed to move forward. Paul was so understanding and kind, knowing that from this day on, they were no longer acquaintances but rather close friends.
John stepped back into the living room with Colin and Pete, holding a Coca Cola bottle in his hand and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes immediately focused on Paul's hand on her knee with her hand over his, with a smile on his face, "What the fuck?!"
He shoved his Coke bottle to Colin as he stormed towards the both of them, "What is this?!" His voice echoed throughout the room, causing some people in the other room to stop their conversations and stare.
Paul glanced down at his hand and quickly pulled it off of Olivia's knee, giving John a slight smile, "Just comforting, Liv. Nothin' else, John."
"It's nothing, John. He was bein' a mate, that's all." Olivia stood up and stepped closer to him.
"Nothin' else, aye?" He raised his eyebrow, glaring at Paul, "Sure looks like nothin'. I let ya in me band and now ya movin' in on me bird, aye?"
Paul quickly stood up, putting his hands up, "Woah, calm down. I was just.."
The jealousy and anger had already taken over John's mind. He swung his fist fast and hard to the front of Paul's face, quickly knocking him down onto his knees.
"Paul!" Olivia quickly kneeled and lifted his chin to see his face, which had blood coming out of his nose. She placed one of Paul's arms around her shoulder and slowly stood up, with Paul holding a hand to his nose to keep more blood from seeping out.
"It's okay, Liv. I'll be fine." Paul returned a small smirk to her, standing back up and regaining his balance.
She made sure Paul could stand up on his own and then faced John, "Was that even necessary?"
"Stop blaggin' me 'ead, Liv. Ya haven't fuckin' spoken to me all fuckin' day, and your first words are to that preteen?" John's eyes kept a steady glare her way.
A tear slowly ran down her face, "Un-fuckin'-believable. On the day of me Dad's funeral. Classic."
John rolled his eyes, "Well, then this day will be even more memorable."
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. How insensitive could he be? Olivia took one step towards him, and suddenly, the palm of her hand came in firm contact with the side of his face. There was nothing else she wanted to say to him, and with that, she quickly stormed off and out of Mimi's house. This had to be the worst day of her entire life.